2014 NNFU congress underway in Windhoek

25 Apr 2014 10:20am

WINDHOEK, 25 APRIL (NAMPA)  Members of the Namibia National Farmers Union (NNFU) are meeting in the capital since Wednesday to deliberate on issues like the status of the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) negotiations.
About 150 delegates are attending the four-day NNFU annual congress under the theme Small-scale farmers - the key to household food security.
Other issues on the agenda are climate change: its impact and possible mitigation strategies; the role of the Agricultural Trade Forum (ATF); outcomes of the community-based rangeland and livestock management project; and other projects in the northern communal areas (NCAs).
Agriculture, Water and Forestry (MAWF) Minister John Mutorwa said in his opening statement availed to Nampa on Thursday that he would rather choose the theme of the congress to be 'Farmers - the key to food security', because it underscores that the business of producing food, accessing food and/or acquiring food is an individual human being's individually-assigned responsibility.
The new NNFU executive committee and secretariat will be announced during the four-day congress.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Dr Hage Geingob earlier this month warned that Namibia needs to tread carefully when dealing with the European Union (EU) on the EPAs.
He said the negotiations are at a critical stage, which warrants careful consideration.
Geingob said Namibia's classification as a middle-income country has placed the country in a tough position to negotiate from, as such classification places it at shoulder-level with some of the world's wealthy countries.
NAMPA
FL/ND/TK